Cooler Weather and LOTS of rain!

We had a MASSIVE storm center that came through last night/early a.m.  It began raining about midnight and didn't stop until 10 a.m.  The thunder and lightening were horrific, and the NOISE!  You haven't lived through a storm like this until you've lived in a metal storage container.  It was impossible to sleep, so we were all dragging this morning.  It was so dark and dreary in here, I neglected to get up, thinking it was early still, and was late for church.  The creekbed was flooded anyway, and even going over the bridge to avoid it wouldn't have done any good.  The upper part of the driveway was flooded too, no way around.  We received AT LEAST 7 inches.  The rain gauge was full, and it was still raining.  PD#1 dumped it out, but it stopped raining shortly thereafter.

I was worried about the baby chicks all night.  They were in their chicken tractor right outside the door, covered with two tarps.  I had no idea the storm was going to be that bad, but the ground was flooded.  They were soaking wet this morning, I felt so bad for them.  We put the chicken tractor in the barn, on a nice bed of warm hay.  They are nice and snug in the barn now, and should do fine. 

I made spaghetti last night using our wild hog sausage and the tomato sauce I canned.  It was pretty good. PH liked it, so it is "good to go" to make it again.  I also made a big batch of laundry soap.  It seems no matter how much I wash, I always have more.  I'd love to get rid of all these clothes, but it doesn't seem possible (sigh). 

Feeling sick with a sore throat and earache.  Drank some Echinacea Tea tonight, and if I don't feel better tomorrow, I'll take some more herbs.

It was pretty chilly inside tonight, so I lit a fire in the woodstove.  Unfortunately, it has died out and my feet are still cold. Finished watching my nightly episode of JERICHO, and so am off to bed.



PH sharpened his chainsaw.  He will be getting ready to go over to his parents to cut firewood.  We have plenty for this year, but his dad had several trees that were cut down.  They are live oak so will be great for our woodstove.

The Two Little Pigs

Piggie #1 - 35 lbs (dressed)



Piggie #2 - 50 lbs (dressed)

Only the second day of homeschool, and we've fallen off the wagon.  Yesterday was a great day of schoolwork, we sat at desks and everything.  Today was more of a field trip type of day.  We stopped and picked up pieces of cotton that blew off the cotton trucks near the cotton fields, and we drove to the near by meat market to check on processing guidelines and prices.   A friend called me and told me she had 2 little piggies (wild hogs) in one of her trap and was I interested in coming to get them.  I surely was!  Well, it wasn't really me, it was PH.  I had to wait until he got off of work, then he headed over to my friend's ranch and they quickly dispatched the two...or as my friend told me they say in Virginia (rendered them your personal property).  Ha! Ha!

PH butchered/quartered the smaller one, which I brought home and promptly washed and packaged for the freezer.  The larger one we took to the small town near us and dropped at the meat market.  They have an after hours freezer in the back where you leave your "harvested" animal.  They will contact me tomorrow to ask me how we want him processed (yes it was a boy).  I am thinking ground meat, but PH suggested sausage, so I guess I'm going with sausage...

It costs .55 cents a lb to process, so it will be about $27.50 with tax.  That's pretty could for 50 lbs of meat..at least to me it is..plus the little one brings the total to 85 lbs for the freezer.  I already have one of the goat bucklings in there, ground beef, and a few chickens (that is next on my list to learn to butcher).